Air quality, weather impact Summerfest's start to 2nd weekend

MILWAUKEE - As Summerfest kicked off its second weekend of 2023, no smoke machines were necessary with an air quality alert in effect. 

Some young musicians came all the way from Texas to perform. There’s not much Canada wildfire smoke where they’re from, so when they arrived at the lakefront it was a bit of a concern. 

"For a second I thought there was some weird pollution crisis going on because I forgot about everything that’s happening in Canada," said 15-year-old performer Evelyn Moreno. "I thought ‘Is it safe to be out here?’ so that kind of freaks me out for a second." 

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Moreno and 14-year-old Cesar Garza performed in one of the "School of Rock" bands.

"It was probably the best performance I ever had in my life. It was so cool and fun to interact with everyone on stage," said Moreno.

Fans at Summerfest amid Canada wildfire smoke air quality alert June 29

Before they hit the stage, they couldn’t help but notice the smoke in the air. 

"I love it here. I love being able to vibe with my band mates, it's so cool," Garza said. "I didn’t really care because I just really wanted to play."

Wisconsin’s air quality was measured as one of the worst in the country this week due to wildfires burning in Canada. 

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"The air quality right now, if you have long term exposure, is like smoking a pack of cigarettes, so we wanted to protect ourselves from that being out here all day," said Summerfest fan Ethan Witthun. "We wanted to see our bands, and if we’re wearing our masks they block about 95% of the smoke." 

Fan Jerry Beamon said he comes to Summerfest every year. Despite the air quality alert not expiring until Friday, he’s not shocked at the great turnout. 

"I think that its kind of ridiculous that air way over in Canada has come over here," he said. "It ain’t gonna stop me from coming to Summerfest. I live for Summerfest."

Summerfest sent out a notification through its app and over the speakers around 4 p.m. alerting attendees to seek shelter as severe weather approached – separate from the air quality.